RB.. congrats on the WHW entry. A couple of my club mates (the two who organise the Hardmoors stuff down here) have both done WHW so I will see if they have any useful tips.

Best of luck to SL, hope he flies along tomorrow. At least he won't have to worry about the weather.

CD.. many happy returns, I peaked at 50 if that offers any encouragement.

DanA.. well done on the Park Run win, at least you're getting some compensations for the Valencia mystery.

Charlie.. well raced at Bedford, you must be reasonably confident that another sub 75 is achievable somewhere.

RS.. all the best for Pisa, enjoy the taper.

Ouch Ouch.. nice to see you popping in again, which AG are you in these days?

LMH.. cracking mileage! It has given you some great results, shame you've ended the year with a niggle.

A bit of double racing at the weekend with a Park Run + 4m Sat, Sherwood Forest trail race on Sunday. The latter is the most charming off road course I've ever done, probably why it sells out very quickly. Mrs Wardi finished 2nd W55 so she currently has bragging rights in the house. I'm attempting the Marcothon again (run every day in December). I was thwarted on day 29 last year when our local bridge collapsed and I was evacuated from my house. I am hoping for less drama this year.

In most conditions one pair is sufficient, I sometimes put 2 pairs on when the temp dips near freezing or when wind chill is a factor. Superior to any of the chunkier padded gloves I've tried. Thin enough to allow operation of Garmins, head torches etc.

Good to see Dids back to join me in the senior codger ranks. We probably need one or two from Dull, Running Bear, Tom to return to enable a Saga styled thread day out.

Dan A.. as elsewhere sorry you didn't get what you deserved. If the build up was similar to your golden day in Barca it is something of a puzzle. Still, keeps your marathon performance graph nice & wobbly

TT.. cracking session there. If you have indeed got a spare tyre then your thighs must be rubbing together so those intervals were more impressive than at first glance

Nice sessions from ES & PP too.

Welcome back to TJK.

SL.. mighty fine work on the treadie. Have you got one at home or do you have to use the local gym?

RB.. good news on the relocation, should save you a bit on petrol as well as getting some timber off.

TR.. hope you're all fixed when the test run comes around. Best of luck with your choice of Muttley.

Charlie.. our low key XC race was 3 laps on the local Riverbank. On each lap we had to run through a herd of cows so the opportunity for puns was immense. I ran out of them when I couldn't think of one on the hoof

Gradually building the miles again post-hols, 5, 4+7.5, 5, 10m so far this week.

Quiet on here yesterday/today, 10m on the treadie early doors today followed by a club 5m XC race to give me 15m for the day. Rain thoughtfully abated 20 mins before the latter so just a strong/chilly westerly wind and a lot of mud to contend with otherwise. Doesn't sound like we had as much disruption as in the south, much sympathy if you had to endure it.

Admirable formula work Charlie! Though if I may scientifically paraphrase TR it is perhaps easier to simply put each dorsum & plantar in front of each other as often as possible. This ensures that you do the locomotion.

At the end of my last post I did say 'never a dull moment here' in reference to my home town. Arrived back in town around 6.30pm on Tuesday to find this scene at the crossroads about 40 metres from my house..

RB.. nice work on the 10k in those conditions. I think you were unlucky that year in Barca - the last 2 years have been blue sky (as per the video), but about 10 degrees at the start rising to 14-16 at the finish. They have invited all 6 medallists from the 1992 Olympic marathon for 2017 as it is a 25 year anniversary. All 6 are doing the breakfast run and 2 are doing the marathon apparently.

Nice 10k from ES too.

Congrats on the XC win Padams.

PP.. a decent prize haul there! Thoroughly decent time from CD too.

Got back from hols last night to find phone & internet dead. Apparently the workmen repairing the town bridge managed to chop through a BT cable so the East side of town is relying on carrier pigeons & semaphore. I currently have the main PC tethered to the mobile to get online. Never a dull moment here!

SL.. I was looking at Seville for 2017 but it is a tricky place to get to from up North so I chose Barca again. I think both races are organised by the same folks/sponsors and both are highly thought of - I know Ryan S loved Seville. Barca is logistically very easy as long as your hotel is reasonably near the HQ - the start/finish & Expo are all in one place. There is a slight ascent between 3k-9k but you don't notice it much as the legs are still fresh, the rest is pretty flat. Cracking atmosphere, plenty of decent competition and about 15-18,000 runners. This video should give you an idea..

Runner's World is a publication of Hearst Magazines UK which is the trading name of The National Magazine Company Ltd, 72 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 9EP. Registered in England 112955. All rights reserved. Runner's World, Part of the Hearst UK wellbeing network